Geotargeting Delivery Rules

Owned by Andrew Hill (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Apr 29, 2020
6 min read

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Use geotargeting delivery rules to define when banners can display by geographical region.

The geographical region can include the user's continent, country, city, latitude/longitude, US or Canadian postal code, US metro code, or geographical region.

The following documentation is for Revive Adserver 5.0.3 and greater only. 

While geotargeting delivery rules were supported in prior versions, the documentation on this page is now specifically only for the geotargeting delivery rules available in Revive Adserver 5.0.3 and greater.

Not all geotargeting features are enabled by default.

If you cannot see any of the following geotargeting options in Revive Adserver, you may need to check the following:

  1. Are you running Revive Adserver 5.0.3 or greater? (Please see above note.)
  2. Is the MaxMind GeoIP2 Plugin installed and active? Please see: Plugins Missing or Disabled
  3. Is the MaxMind GeoIP2 plugin selected as the active geotargeting plugin? Please see: Geotargeting Settings
  4. Have you obtained a MaxMind license key and added this to the MaxMind GeoIP2 Plugin settings? Please see: MaxMind GeoIP2 License Key
  5. Some of the geotargeting options below depend on a MaxMind GeoIP2 database which is not included by default in Revive Adserver. To use these geotargeting options, you will need to download and install the relevant database files. Please see: MaxMind GeoIP2 Plugin

The free versions of the MaxMind GeoIP2 databases have reduced accuracy.

Please note that by default, Revive Adserver uses the free version of the MaxMind GeoIP2 City database.

MaxMind's free database versions have a lower level of accuracy than their paid database versions. If you find that geotargeting is not completely accurate, this is a likely reason, and you may want to consider if purchasing a paid version of the relevant database files is appropriate for you.




Revive Adserver supports the following geotargeting delivery rules.

MaxMind GeoIP2 City Options

The following geotargeting delivery rules are dependent on the MaxMind GeoIP2 City database. The free version of this database is included in Revive Adserver by default.

Geo - Country / City

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the user's country and city.

Banner delivery will only occur when the user's country matches the selected country value from the drop-down list and when the city value matches, based on the selected matching criteria and city value.

The city value is a free form text field, and supports different value types depending on the matching criteria selected:

  • Is equal to:
    • A free-form text field of comma-separated city name(s).
    • Delivery occurs when the user's country matches and the user's city name matches one of the supplied city values.
  • Is different from:
    • A free-form text field of comma-separated city name(s).
    • Delivery occurs when the user's country matches and the user's city name does not match any of the supplied city values.
  • Contains:
    • A free-form text field of comma-separated string value(s).
    • Delivery occurs when the user's country matches and the user's city name contains one of the supplied string values.
  • Does not contain:
    • A free-form text field of comma-separated city name(s).
    • Delivery occurs when the user's country matches and the user's city name does not contain any of the supplied string values.
  • Regex match:
    • A standard regular expression string. (Does not require starting and ending delimiters.)
    • Delivery occurs when the user's country matches and the user's city name is matched by the regular expression string.
  • Regex does not match:
    • A standard regular expression string. (Does not require starting and ending delimiters.)
    • Delivery occurs when the user's country matches and the user's city name is not matched by the regular expression string.


The Geo - Country / City geotargeting option will only deliver a banner when the user's country matches the selected country value from the drop-down list. The matching criteria drop-down only applies to the city value.

Therefore, if the geotargeting for a banner is set up as:

  • Criteria: "Is different from"
  • Country: United States of America
  • City: "New York"

Then the delivery of the banner will only occur when:

  • The user's country is the United States of America; and
  • The user's city is not New York.

Again, note that delivery depends on the country matching, regardless of the matching criteria selected. 

Consider the use of multiple delivery rules if you need to target a banner to be delivered to all cities other than one in a given country and to all countries other than the one that the city you are excluding is in.

Geo - Continent

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the user's continent.

Banner delivery will only occur when the user's continent is either in (or not in) one of the selected values.

Geo - Country

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the user's country.

Banner delivery will only occur when the user's country is either in (or not in) one of the selected values.

Geo - Latitude/Longitude

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the user's latitude and longitude.

Banner delivery will only occur when the user's latitude and longitude are either both within (or both outside) the selected latitude and longitude ranges.

Geo - US/Canada Postal Code

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the user's US or Canada postal code.

Banner delivery will only occur when the user has a US or Canada postal code, and the postal code value matches, based on the selected matching criteria and postal code value.

The postal code value is a free form text field, and supports different value types depending on the matching criteria selected:

  • Is equal to:
    • A free-form text field of comma-separated postal code value(s).
    • Delivery occurs when the user's postal code matches one of the supplied postal code values.
  • Is different from:
    • A free-form text field of comma-separated city name(s).
    • Delivery occurs when the user's postal code does not match any of the supplied postal code values.
  • Contains:
    • A free-form text field of comma-separated string value(s).
    • Delivery occurs when the user's postal code contains one of the supplied string values.
  • Does not contain:
    • A free-form text field of comma-separated city name(s).
    • Delivery occurs when the user's postal code does not contain any of the supplied string values.
  • Regex match:
    • A standard regular expression string. (Does not require starting and ending delimiters.)
    • Delivery occurs when the user's postal code is matched by the regular expression string.
  • Regex does not match:
    • A standard regular expression string. (Does not require starting and ending delimiters.)
    • Delivery occurs when the user's postal code is not matched by the regular expression string.

Geo - Level 1 Subdivision

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the user's country and level 1 subdivision.

  • Select the appropriate country first, then select the grey arrow icon next to the country to update the available subdivisions for that country.
  • You can only select subdivisions for one country - use multiple instances of the delivery rule if required to apply multiple level 1 subdivision country selections.

Banner delivery will only occur when the user's country and subdivision are either in (or not in) one of the selected values.

Geo - Level 2 Subdivision

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the user's country and level 2 subdivision.

  • Select the appropriate country first, then select the grey arrow icon next to the country to update the available subdivisions for that country.
  • You can only select subdivisions for one country - use multiple instances of the delivery rule if required to apply multiple level 2 subdivision country selections.

Banner delivery will only occur when the user's country and subdivision are either in (or not in) one of the selected values.

Geo - US Metro Code

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the user's US metro code.

Banner delivery will only occur when the user's US metro code is either in (or not in) one of the selected values.

MaxMind GeoIP2 Connection Type Options

The following geotargeting delivery rules are dependent on the MaxMind GeoIP2 Connection Type database. This database is not included in Revive Adserver by default.

Geo - Connection Type

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the user's connection type.

Banner delivery will only occur when the user's connection type is either one of (or not one of) the selected values.

MaxMind GeoIP2 ISP Options

The following geotargeting delivery rules are dependent on the MaxMind GeoIP2 ISP database. This database is not included in Revive Adserver by default.

Geo - ISP/Organisation

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the user's ISP or organisation name.

Banner delivery will only occur when the user has an ISP or organisation name, and the name value matches, based on the selected matching criteria and ISP/organisation value.

The postal code value is a free form text field, and supports different value types depending on the matching criteria selected:

  • Is equal to:
    • A free-form text field of comma-separated ISP/organisation name value(s).
    • Delivery occurs when the user's ISP/organisation name matches one of the supplied ISP/organisation name values.
  • Is different from:
    • A free-form text field of comma-separated ISP/organisation name name(s).
    • Delivery occurs when the user's ISP/organisation name does not match any of the supplied ISP/organisation name values.
  • Contains:
    • A free-form text field of comma-separated string value(s).
    • Delivery occurs when the user's ISP/organisation name contains one of the supplied string values.
  • Does not contain:
    • A free-form text field of comma-separated city name(s).
    • Delivery occurs when the user's ISP/organisation name does not contain any of the supplied string values.
  • Regex match:
    • A standard regular expression string. (Does not require starting and ending delimiters.)
    • Delivery occurs when the user's ISP/organisation name is matched by the regular expression string.
  • Regex does not match:
    • A standard regular expression string. (Does not require starting and ending delimiters.)
    • Delivery occurs when the user's ISP/organisation name is not matched by the regular expression string.